Awning roller



March 15, 1932. F. A. ANTO N AWNING ROLLER Filed Sept. 24, 1950 3rmenfor Freda/L064 A 7151a Patented Mar. 15, 1932 PATENT orFicE FREDERICK A. ANTON, TOPEKA, KANSAS AWNING ROLLER Application filed September 24", 1930. Serial No. 434,022.

This invention relates to awning rollers and has for its objective the provision of ends for such rollers such as shall insure a proper winding thereon of the awning fabric without subjecting the same to stretching strains which not only shorten the life of the above, after a comparatively short period ofservice, and this is especially noticeable with large awnings, because of their weight they offer such resistance that they wind tightly on the rollers. The conventional roller, as well known, being of uniform diameter from end to end, causes the hemmed ends of thefabric as the awning is wound up, to increase in diameter more rapidly than the body of the fabric, and in so doing the fabric is subjected to a laterally applied strain which stretches the body of the fabric near the side or hemmed margins, and also tends to cause the fabric to creep or shift laterally and thus present an uneven and more or less unsightly appearance at the ends when fully wound upon its roller..

I have found by experimentation that, through the use of a roller of reduced end diameter, an awning fabric, with hemmed side margins, can be wound smoothly without creepage and when rolled up will be of substantially uniform diameter from end to end so that its appearance is attractive. This construction also avoids all undue lateral straining or stretching of the fabric so that when the awning is open or spread, it is taut for its entire area and avoids the very unsightly sagging mentioned, near its side margins.

My primary object, therefore, is the provision of a roller, of either the wood or metal type, upon which a side hemmed fabric can be wound smoothly andof substantially uniform diameter without creepage or appreciable lateral stretching near its side margins;

The invention broadly consists of the provision of' a roller which has end extremities of cylindrical form and less diameter'than the body of the roller, and which is symmet rica'lly tapered from the bodyportion to such reduced end portions, the lengthof the tapered portions being sufficient to avoid'any abrupt deflection or bending of the fabric as it is being wound upon or unwound from the roller. g

Another object is to provide a roller of the characteristic type mentioned, comprising a body portionof uniform diameter and gud-i geon ends secured to'the body portion and constituting the reduced and tapered portions upon which the hemmed side margins of the fabric wind and unwind. a v With the objects mentioned in view, the in} vention consists in certain} novel and useful features of construction and organization of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that'it may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which: i 1 Y "Figure l is a fragmentary view,partly in elevation and partly in diametric section of aroller embodying the invention, the fabric wound thereon being also disclosed. a Figure 2 is an end view of the same'with the fabric omitted, f i i Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective View of a wood roller embodying the invention, the roller properbeing partly withdrawn from the gudgeon. i I In the said drawings, where like reference characters identify corresponding parts in all of thefigures, 1 is the shaft which may extends through the roller 2 or may consist of 'alined extensions or trunnions secured to If no shaft 1 isemployed'the form a trunnion 6 (see Figure 3), the stem and trunnion being coaxially disposed with respect to the head. The head tapers .symmetrically and gradually from itsinner or large end to within an inch or three-quarters of an inch of its opposite end, and thus provides asmall cylindricalend po-rtion 7, of uniform diameter, and of length slightly exceeding the width of the related hem of the awning fabric.

The stem of each gudgeon is fitted snugly into the respective end of the roller until the enlarged end of the head abuts against theopposing extremity of the roller, and a pin 8 extends through the roller an d stem,'tomake the connection secure. If the shaft 1 is employed, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the gudge'on is secured upon it by the same pin, Ifthe shaft is dispensed with, as hereinbe'-- fore. sug, g;ested-, the head will be provided with the trunnion 6, projecting axially from its small end.v In theone case, the extremities of the shaft, and in the other, the trunnio-ns f the gudgeons will be ournaled in suitablebearings, not shown, so that the roller shall lie in a horizontal plane.

In Figure 3, the construction of the gudgeon is identical with that described except that thestem a is flat in shape to fit in a diametric slot or space 9 in a wood roller;

Preferably, the Wood roller is composed of two semi-cylindrical sections 10 having their flat faces at their ends, littingagainst opposite sides of the stem and secured tothe latter by the pin 8. I

The Width of sponds tothe length of the roller, and the widthof the h-ems 12 correspond approximately to that of the reduced cylindrical-por tions of the r'olleryas indicated in Figure 1, and it will be noted, as approximately shown in; said figures, that although the hem doubles the thickness of the fabric, the reduction of the; end portions of the roller compensates therefor, and as a consequence the external diameter of the fabric when wound up is approximately uniform, and hence is not under any appreciable lateral stretching strain so that when spread or open it presents 1 noappreciable or noticeable sagging at or near its side margins.-

From the above description it will be ap-. parent that while I have described and claimed a construction embodying all of the than the shaft.

the awning fabric 11, correr 2. An awning roller comprising a central shaft, a tubular roller carried by said shaft, a gudgeon mounted on said shaft and interlocked with the roller and having a shoulder portion of the same diameter asv the roller and in abutment therewith, the other end of said gudgeon being of less diameter than the shoulder portion-and of: greater diameter 3. "An awning roller comprising a central shaft, atubulanroller, carried by said shaft,

a gudgeon mounted on said shaft and interlocked with said roller and having a shoulder portion ofthe same diameter as the tube and in'abutm'en't therewith,tl1-e other end of said gudgeon being of less; diameter than the shoulder portion, and an intermediatev curved portion merging at'its opposite ends into the reduced end and shoulderportions respec-v tively.

The combination with awning roller, of a gudgeon axiallyalined and lnterlockedv therewith,-said gudgeon having a shoulder portion of equal diameter to the roller, an intermediate reduced portion, and-a trunnion extremity.

5. The combination of a gudgeon consist ing of a head tapering outwardly and terminating at its outer end in a cylindrical portion and forward thereof in a trunnion of smaller diameter'than the cylindricalportion; the head having a flat diametric extension at itsvinner end, a roller composed of semi-cylindricalsections fitting at their flat faces upon the said extension, and meansse- V curing the roller sections to said extensions. In testimony whereof .I aiiix my signature.

, FREDERICK A. Anion." 

